


Your Blood, So Sweet

by AceCavalier



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, M/M, That's right, Vampire Hunters, Vampire! Xanlow, Vampires, and it suits Nohr so damn well, because I'm weak for vampires, it's a Vampire!Nohrian Royals au!, yep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 18:37:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17106005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceCavalier/pseuds/AceCavalier
Summary: Laslow, along with his companions Selena and Odin, have spent years training to fight and kill vampires, and he's quite good at it. But he's now faced with the most terrifying challenge of all: to slay the Nohrian Royal family, centuries-old vampires in possession of powerful magic.If he can't slay a master vampire with his skills, he'll need to resort to his charms...





	Your Blood, So Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Writing self-indulgent Xanlow AUs? Nonsense!
> 
> Ahem. I really, really, really like vampires and I really, really like Xanlow, so really it was only a matter of time before this happened. I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

“I’m not sure this is a good idea…”

“Don’t be such a scaredy-cat, Laslow. We’ve been training years for this, remember? We’ll be fine.”

“Exactly! And besides, it’s not like this is the first time we’ve gone up against vampires.”

“I know, Odin, but… these aren’t _normal_ vampires, they’re…”

Selena cut him off. “Doesn’t matter. They’ll be dead – actually dead – once we’re done with them.”

They crept through the dark hallways of Krakenburg castle. The outside had been left almost completely unguarded; these days, no one was foolish enough to set foot inside the abode of Nohr’s most dangerous and powerful family. Across the continent, mention of the Nohrian royal family drove terror into the hearts of ordinary people.

The three of them weren’t exactly ‘ordinary’ people, but Laslow couldn’t deny that even he was afraid. Very much so.

He felt a chill across his skin and shuddered. “There’s only three of us against a whole family of them – not to mention whoever else might be in here!”

“That’s why we’re keeping quiet,” snapped Selena. “If we take them out one-by-one they won’t stand a chance.”

A hand clapped down on his shoulder, making Laslow jump. He spun around to see Odin’s boldly grinning face, dimly lit by his illumination spell.

“Have faith, Laslow! No vampire has ever survived an encounter with the Three Slayers of Darkness! We’ll be fine!”

“ _Three Slayers of Darkness_?” Selena repeated. “You gotta be kidding me.”

Odin was about to make a retort when Selena shushed him. She stopped and peered out around a corner of the corridor, checking to see if the coast was clear. After a moment, she turned back to them.

“Alright, Laslow _does_ have a point. These are gonna be the strongest vampires we’ve faced yet. If we stick to the plan we should be alright, but if things go wrong… get out of there as fast as you can, got it?” The two boys nodded, one more eagerly than the other. “Ok, let’s go.”

They hurried down the corridor, sticking close to the walls and keeping as low to the ground as they could while maintaining a good speed; any second they lingered could bring them closer to being discovered by whatever might be wandering the halls. As they turned yet another corner, Laslow was glad he wasn’t leading; all the twists and turns had him spun around, and each glimpse through the window showed the same black void above them. In Nohr, there was no such thing as day or night, only perpetual darkness - it was the perfect place for a vampire family to call home. At the fourth winding stairway, Selena reached the door at the top and paused. She tested it, found it unlocked, and pressed an ear to the door.

“Put the light out, Odin,” she whispered, barely audible to Laslow at the back of the line. Darkness swallowed them, and Selena pushed the door open.

It creaked in protest, and the trio immediately froze, none of them daring to breathe as they listened for a sign that anyone had noticed the sound. A long minute passed and nothing changed; Laslow gave a long sigh and they pressed on.

They entered a larger, more open corridor dimly lit with the occasional lantern. Dust coated the walls and floor, and when Laslow looked back behind them he could just make out the faint footprints they were leaving behind. Not ideal, but there wasn’t much they could do about it now.

There was a doorway on their left that led into some kind of sitting room, but as they edged their way past it they saw white sheets draped over the furniture. At the end of the corridor was a large door with lanterns mounted on either side of it, and Laslow felt his stomach churn at the sight.

“I’m getting a bad feeling,” he hissed to the others. “Are we sure it’s not too late to go back and regroup…?”

“ _Shhh_!” was Selena’s only reply.

There was no way out of it, then. Resigning himself reluctantly to that fact, Laslow tried to swallow down his fear and moved one hand to hold the hilt of the silver sword sheathed at his side. His other hand checked the satchel slung over his shoulder, making sure it still contained the garlic and blessed water. Silently, as Selena reached out one hand to the large doors, he sent a prayer to Naga to keep them safe.

The door groaned open to what seemed to be a large dining area. There was more light here and less dust, and along one wall were a number of small windows that looked out over the courtyard they’d entered the castle by. The tables spread across the room were simple and unadorned; it had likely served as the castle barracks.

Another flight of stairs later they found the dining area the royals must have used – it was lavishly decorated and finely furnished, with masterful artworks hanging from the walls. A massive chandelier lit the empty room.

“So, about that bad feeling Laslow had…” Odin began as they pressed themselves against the wall and began to edge their way across the room. “I’m starting to get one, too.”

“Oh, would you two man up?” Selena grumbled. “As long you idiots don’t go losing your heads this will be a piece of cake, got it? We’ll be back home in no time.”

Her words were confident, but Laslow didn’t miss the slight waver in her voice.

The tales of the Vampire Royals of Nohr had been spread far beyond the Nohrian borders – even beyond the Hoshidan borders. Throughout the many centuries of their existence since the royals of Nohr were cursed, they had perfected their cruelty, mastered their abilities, honed their inhuman strengths; to make matters worse, there was also the notorious blood magic that had been inherited by the royal children for countless generations. Laslow had once heard that such magic could be used to set one’s veins alight, or to turn a living creature into little more than a puppet…

A shudder passed through him. The three of them had trained for the past seven years since leaving their homeland, learning how best to kill vampires, how to fight them, how best to escape or defend against their power. Together, the number of vampires they had killed could no longer be counted on their fingers.

But killing vampires was one thing. Killing centuries-old vampires that could also use blood magic was something else, and though Selena had believed they were ready, Laslow had never been more doubtful of anything in his life.

He shut his eyes, trying to get his fear under control. _Selena is right: as long as we stick to the plan we’ll be just fine. Back home in no time at all, yes, of course! Nothing at all to worry about, not a thing in the world! Except for someone using my blood to control my body… Or having a vampire drink every last drop of blood in my veins… Or being kept alive like livestock to be devoured whenever it pleased them, kept as a toy to play with, a slave for the rest of… No, Laslow! Stop it! Enough!_

Laslow shook his head roughly and opened his eyes.

And stopped dead.

Selena and Odin were no longer in front of him.

He looked over his shoulder but they weren’t behind him, either. They weren’t anywhere at all. Before he could try and call out to them he felt a terrible coldness stretch across his skin. No, not his skin – it was _inside_ him, freezing the blood in his veins. His breath caught as he realised, too late, what was happening, then he couldn’t move at all, couldn’t cry out even if he hadn’t been too terrified to make a sound. He was helpless, completely vulnerable, every day of his rigorous training rendered useless in an instant.

A heavy hand touched his shoulder and darkness smothered him for a moment, then his body was suddenly his own again and he collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. Immediately he grabbed for his sword, staggering to his feet, but before he could draw the silver blade he felt a cold presence against his back and found himself once again immobilised, this time purely out of fear.

“Well, well,” a rich, silken voice purred by his ear. “What do we have here, hm?”

The sound was deep and melodic, pure enough in its tone that Laslow felt it tickle across his skin like a spark. It was mesmerising in its beauty, simultaneously the most wonderful and most terrible thing he’d ever heard.

“Yet another foolish hunter, here to murder my family and I? Hah. You’re ilk don’t seem to learn, do they?”

A whisper of sensation grazed his neck, and he felt inhumanly sharp nails press against his soft skin. The feeling was enough to jolt some sense back into him – _think, Laslow! Do something! Anything!_ A quick glance around showed him that he was in an unfamiliar room, a study of some kind, with a desk, a chair, and a simmering fireplace. The vampire – and he had no doubt that’s what this beautifully hideous voice belonged to now – was standing immediately behind him, but wasn’t currently using magic to hold him in place, and Laslow still had his hand on the pommel of his sword…

He didn’t allow himself time to make a plan. Laslow lurched forward, using the vampire’s surprise to break loose of its grip, and whirled around, drawing his sword and slashing it towards the creature in a single, fluid movement. Where the vampire had been, however, there was now empty air, and his blade swung harmlessly through it. Acting on instinct, he ducked and spun again, swinging once more towards where he thought the vampire had moved to. The attack met resistance, but not the kind he had hoped for; rather than blade meeting skin, his gloved wrist had met with an impossibly strong grip, and he looked up into the blazing scarlet eyes of the vampire now grappling him.

There was a moment where Laslow saw its gleaming eyes, its beautiful chiselled face, the golden locks of hair that curled ever-so-slightly, then his wrist was twisted harshly. He cried out in pain, instantly dropping his sword, before being flung like a rag across the room and colliding with the desk. Sharp pain burned across his back and he shouted again, but his adrenaline was finally kicking in, and the drive to fight was enough to block out the pain as soon as it began.

In a blink Laslow was on his feet again; he was without his sword, but he still had other weapons at his disposal. From his satchel he whipped out the small vial of blessed water and a wooden stake and faced his enemy once more. The vampire smirked at him, a cocky sort of grin that suited his handsome face too well, then he was gone, and almost before Laslow could register that fact he felt a new surge of pain erupt through the left side of his jaw and found himself once again being knocked across the room.

 _Get up!_ His mind screamed at him. _Get up, get up, get up!_ Blindly, disoriented, he threw the vial but heard no crash, and when he looked up, blinking away the colours that dotted his vision, he saw the vampire looming above him, the vial held gingerly in two fingers.

“A commendable effort,” the creature said. “It’s rare that my prey puts up such a fight. I’ll admit, I’ve missed the challenge.” He tossed aside the vial, and Laslow watched in dismay as it shattered harmlessly against the wall. “But now that I’ve had my fun, it’s time to be done with you.”

The vampire reached down and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, hauling him off the ground as though he were light as a doll until his feet dangled in the air. With his other hand, the vampire grabbed a fistful of his hair and tilted his head back, exposing his neck. _This is it_. His heart pounded so madly he could practically feel the vein in his neck pulsing. _I’m going to die._ He shut his eyes, wondering if, hoping madly that, Selena and Odin had made it out of the castle alive after noticing he was gone. As long as they were alright…

Cool breath brushed against his skin. The vampire was so close to him now that he could feel the cold that radiated from him, and heard him draw in a deep breath.

“Your blood… It smells sweet. I could smell it as soon as you entered the castle. Among vampires, sweet blood is considered quite the delicacy.”

Laslow tried to swallow his rising panic, but it caught around the lump in his throat.

“D-does… Does it hurt? W-When… Y-you know…”

There was a hum. “I’m told it stings at first, but I’m sure you won’t feel it for long.”

Laslow dared to open his eyes. He was looking directly up at an intricately decorated ceiling with the way his head was positioned, but the vampire was tall enough that his handsome face was still in view. For the first time, Laslow noticed the dark steel crown adorning the golden locks.

“You… You’re Prince Xander… the Vampire Prince of Nohr.” The vampire nodded. “You’re going to… to k-kill me, aren’t you…?”

“Yes. You’re a hunter who came here with the intent of murdering my family. You failed, and now I will kill you instead.”

Laslow shut his eyes again and felt tears begin to prod at the corners. _This really was it._

“A-Alright,” he choked out. “Just… p-please, could you not make it hurt too much...?”

There was a long pause. Long enough, in fact, that Laslow started to wonder if something had happened and opened an eye to check, but saw only an unreadable expression on the vampire prince’s face, a deep smouldering in his red eyes. He made to repeat his last request but his tongue felt thick in his mouth, and he realised with a start that he could no longer feel any pain. He could barely feel anything at all. Had his feet been on the ground, he would have swayed as his vision began to blur, then fade, then he was falling, and the last thought that run through his mind as the void closed in around him was an image of his friends, Odin and Selena, and his mother dancing by the lake.

Then darkness.


End file.
